Tape fastener for venetian blinds



Dec. 13, 1949 J. L. HUNTER 2,491,131

TAPE FASTENBR FOR VENETIAN BLtuns Filed Feb. 13, 1945 IN V EN TOR.

HTTOZA/EV Patented Dec. 13, 1949 TAPE FASTENER FOR VENETIAN BLINDS Joseph L. Hunter, Riverside, CaliL, assignor, by

mesne assignments, to Hunter Douglas Corporation, Riverside, Calit, a corporation of Delaware Application February 13, 1945, Serial No. 577,692 '1 Claims. (01.160-1'78) My invention relates to a tape fastener particularly adapted for fastening the bottom ends of tape ladders of Venetian blinds to the botto rail of such blinds.

In the assembly of Venetian blinds it is the common practice to employ a plurality of tape ladders disposed at intervals along the length of the'blinds, such ladders including a pair of vertically extending tapes interconnected by cross bars upon which the individual slats of the Venetian blind rest. The tilting of the slats to their various adjusted positions is accomplished by lifting of one of the tapes and lowering of the opposite tape and vice versa. The lower ends of the vertical tapes of the tape ladders are usually secured to a bottom rail element as by drawing the ends of these tapes about the bottom rail and securing the ends thereto by means of tacks, screws or other securing devices, usually the fastenings employed being covered by a cover plate or strip extending along the bottom rail and secured thereto.

In recent years Venetian blinds have been constructed of metal slats as distinguished from the previously used slats formed of wood and with such metal slat blinds it is desirable to use a metal bottom railing, making it diflicult to readily secure the ends of the ladder tapes to the bottom rail. 1

One of the difficulties which have been heretofore encountered in the assembly of blinds and securing of the tapes has been that during the assembly operation there is no ready means for temporarily attaching the tapes to the bottom rails which would permit of an adjustment be-' tween these tapes and the bottom rail to level up the suspension .of the bottom rail.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a tape fastener which may be readily employed with the bottom rail of Venetian blinds of either metal or wood construction, in which the tape fastener comprises both a temporary adjustable fastener for the lower ends of the tapes and also acts as a permanent fastener.

Another object of my invention is to provide a fastener of the character set forth in the preceding paragraph wherein the tapes are detachably secured to the fastener to permit the ready disassembly of the tapes from the bottom rail when it is desired to disassemble the blind.

Another object of my invention is to provide a tape fastener of the character described which is simple and inexpensive in construction.

Another object of my invention is to provide a tape fastener of the character set forth wherein the tape fastener may be suspended loosely beneath the bottom rail by the temporary securing thereof of the ladder tapes and wherein the tape fastener is provided with a cover plate which when secured to the bottom rail not only covers and encloses the tape fastener but also acts to permanently hold the tapes in whatever adjusted position they have been placed prior to the placing of the cap thereon.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from a study of the following specifications, read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of the assembly of a pair of ladder tapes, a bottom rail and my novel tape fastener;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the tape fastener illustrating the manner in which the tapes may be temporarily and adjustably secured thereto;

and

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken through the assembled bottom rail, tapes, tape fastener and cover plate shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated a bottom rail and tape assembly forVenetian blinds as comprising a bottom rail member I which, in the form illustrated herein, may be comprised of a hollow section of metal tubing having any desired shape though it will be understood by those skilled in this art that a bottom.

rail formed of wood may be substituted therefor without departing from the spirit of myinveiition.

A pair of ladder tapes 2 and 3, comprising a portion of one of the ladders employed in the Venetian blind assembly, are illustrated as extending downwardly about the side edges of the bottom rail I and secured in place by means of a tape fastener 4 constructed in accordance with my invention and covered by acover plate 5 which may be attached to the bottom rail I as by means of screws 8 and which will act not only to cover and enclose the tapes and the tape fastener proper but will also act upon the tape fastener to immovably secure the tapes in any de 3 tratedashavingapairoftonguesland "struck downwardly therefrom along a substantially ushaped line, the base of the U of each of the tongues being disposed on opposite sides of the transverse center line of the plate, that is, on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the bottom rail I. Thesetongues have a width Just slightly less than the width of the fastener 4 and the transverse edge ll of the tongues is preferably cut from the base along a serrated line at the base of the U to provide a plurality of inter-fitting teeth I! and II on the base and tongue. This arrangement permits the tape to be drawn under the lower rail I, passed downwardly through the opening formed between the interfitting serrated teeth I2 and I3, and then the end of the tape is drawn outwardly to lie immediately below the tongue s or Ill, respectively.

In assembling the blind structure the tapes are preferably temporarily held in the above described position by merely tucking the side edges of the tape above a pair of fingers I 4 and II formed upon and extending below the base portion of the fastener plate 4, any downward pull which is exerted upon the fastener 4 automatically diminishing the space between the serrated teeth I! and I3 to grip and engage the tape therebetween but permitting the ready manipuw lation of the tape relative to the fastener 4 to lengthen or shorten the tapes 2 and 3 relative to the bottom rail I as the assembly is leveled All of the foregoing assembly may be, and preferably is, accomplished while the fastener plate 4 is disassembled from the bottom rail I so that the assembly may occur with the bottom rail in place but merely lying upon the fastener 4 until the adjustment of the lengths of the tapes 2 and 3 has been completed.

The assembled tapes and tape fastener may now be secured to the bottom rail l as by employing a substantially box-shaped cover plate I adapted to enclose the fastener plate 4 as by projecting screws 4 through suitable aligned holes or apertures it formed through the mid section of the fastener plate 4, the upstanding flanges H at opposite sides of the bottom rail acting to grip or clamp the tapes 2 and 3 to the bottom rail while at the same time the depth of the flanges I1 is preferably such that comparatively little space is allowed for the downward flexing of either of the tongues s and I and hence insuring against the inadvertent slipping of the tapes from their adjusted positions on their respective tongues.

In the event it is desired to use a bottom rail constructed of wood, the screws i may be wood screws secured directly into the wood of the bottom rail while if a metal bottom rail is employed as illustrated herein, the screws 6 may be machine screws threaded directly into the metal of the bottom railstructure.

It will be apparent therefore that I have provided a fastener for Venetian blind ladder tapes which permits the ready temporary assembly of the tapes and fastener without the necessity of employing tacks or other securing devices, and in which the tapes are at all times free to be lengthened or shortened during the assembly operation to achieve the desired leveling of the bottom rail and to achieve the desired spacing between the lowermost slat and the bottom rail, while once the adjustment has been completed the tapes will be held permanently in this adjusted position against possibility of slippage and yet be free to be readily disassembled merely by removing the screws 0 and the cover plate I, whereupon the tongues and II are free to be flexed outwardly to release the tapes 2 and I.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to any of the details of construction shown and described herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a tape fastener for securing ladder tapes to bottom rails of Venetian blinds, a plate adapted to be disposed transversely across the lower surface of the bottom rail, said plate being formed of relatively thin metal having a pair of tongues each struck downwardly therefrom along a substantially U-shaped line. the bases of the U-shapes extending parallel to each other and being disposed on opposite sides of the center line of the bottom rail to define openings through which the ends of opposite tapes of a ladder may be drawn from above the plate and folded back beneath the tongues, whereby downward forces exterted upon said fastener plate will cause the tongues to pinch the tape between the tongues and the adjacent portions of the plate.

2. In a tape fastener for securing ladder tapes to bottom rails of Venetian blinds, a plate adapted to be disposed transversely across the lower surface of the bottom rail, said plate being formed of relatively thin metal having a pair of tongues each struck downwardly therefrom along a substantially U-shaped line, the bases of the U-shapes extending parallel to each other and being disposed on opposite sides of the center line of the bottom rail to define openings through which the ends of opposite tapes of a ladder may be drawn from above the plate and folded back beneath the tongues, the lines of the bases of said U-shapes being serrated to provide inter-fitting teeth on the ends of the tongues and the adjacent portions of the plate, whereby downward forces exerted upon said fastener plate will cause the teeth of the tongues to grip the tape between the ends of the tongues and the adjacent portions of the plate.

3. In a tape fastener for securingladder tapes to bottom rails of Venetian blinds, a plate adapted to be disposed transversely across the lower surface of the bottom rafl, said plate being formed of relatively thin metal having a pair of tongues each struck downwardly therefrom along a substantially U-shaped line, the bases of the U-shapes extending parallel to each other and being disposed on opposite sides of the center line of the bottom rail to define openings through which the ends of opposite tapes of a ladder may be drawn from above the plate and folded back beneath the tongues, whereby downward forces exerted upon said fastener plate will cause the tongues. to pinch the tape between the tongues and the adjacent portions of the plate, the side edges of the plate being bent back to define tape receiving channels to temporarily hold that portion of the tapes disposed beneath the tongues in position beneath the tongues.

4. In a tape fastener assembly for securing ladder tapes to bottom rails of Venetian blinds, a bottom rail, a tape fastener plate disposed beneath said bottom rail, said plate being formed of relatively thin metal having a pair of tongues each struck downwardly therefrom along a sub stantially U-shaped line, the bases of the U-shapes extending parallel'to each other and being disposed on opposite sides of the center line of the bottom rail to define openings through which the ends of opposite tapes of a ladder may be drawn from above the plate and folded back beneath the tongues, whereby downward forces exerted upon said fastener plate will cause the tongues to pinch the tape between the tongues and the adjacent portions of the plate, and means for securing said plate to the lower surface of the bottom rail.

5. In a tape fastener assembly for securing ladder tapes to bottom rails of Venetian blinds, a bottom rail, a tape fastener disposed beneath said bottom rail, said plate being formed of relatively thin metal having a pair of tongues each struck downwardly therefrom along a substantially U-shaped line, the bases of the U-shapes extending parallel to each other and being disposed on opposite sides of the center line of the bottom rail to define openings through which the ends of opposite tapes of a ladder may be drawn from above the plate and folded back beneath the tongues, whereby downward forces exerted upon said fastener plate will cause the tongues to pinch the tape between the tongues and the adjacent portions of the plate, means for securing said plate to the lower surface of the bottom rail, and a cover plate secured to the bottom rail extending about and enclosing said plate.

6. In a tape fastener assembly for securing ladder tapes to bottom rails of Venetian blinds, a

-bottom rail, a tape fastener plate disposed beneath said bottom rail, said plate being formed of relatively thin metal having a pair of tongues each struck downwardly therefrom along a substantially U-shaped line, the bases of the U-shapes extending parallel to each other and being disposed on opposite sides of the center line of the bottom rail to define openings through which the ends of opposite tapes of a ladder may be drawn from above the plate and folded back beneaththe tongues, whereby downward forces exerted upon said fastener plate will cause the tongues to pinch T cover plate and said fastening plate for securing said cover plate and said fastening plate to the lower surface of said bottom rail. I

7. In a tape fastener for securing ladder tapes to bottom rails of Venetian blinds, a plate adapted to be disposed transversely across the lower surface of the bottom rail, said plate being formed of relatively thin metal having a pair of tongues each struck downwardly therefrom, one on each side of the center line of the plate that is to be disposed lengthwise of the bottom rail, the plate material surrounding said tongues defining openings through which the ends of opposite tapes of a ladder may be drawn from above the plate and folded back beneath the tongues, said tongues having a length sufficient to substantially close said openings when the tongues are flush with the plate, and said plate being of substantially flexible material whereby downward forces exerted upon said plate will cause the tapes to draw the tongues in a direction to close said openings and clamp the tapes to the plate,

JOSEPH L. HUNTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,079,852 Grassby May 11, 1937 40 2,258,647 Haase Oct. 14, 1941 

